A painting stolen by the Nazis during World War II has mysteriously vanished again after being discovered hanging in an Argentine home that was featured in a real estate advertisement. Federal prosecutor Carlos Martínez confirmed that a police raid on the Buenos Aires-area property turned up no trace of the artwork, though officers did seize two weapons during their search.
The missing artwork, "Portrait of a Lady" by Giuseppe Ghislandi, was spotted hanging above a sofa in a property being sold by the daughter of Friedrich Kadgien, a high-ranking Nazi SS officer who fled Germany after the war and later became a successful businessman in Argentina. Martínez told local media that authorities are now treating the case as an alleged cover-up of smuggling activities, according to Argentine newspaper Clarin.
The painting's rediscovery came through investigative work by Peter Schouten of the Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad, which first reported on the long-lost artwork's reappearance. Schouten noted that there was evidence "the painting was removed shortly afterwards or after the media reports about it appeared." When police raided the property this week, they found that the furnishings had been rearranged and "there's now a large rug with horses and some nature scenes hanging there, which police say looks like something else used to hang there."
"Portrait of a Lady" was originally part of the extensive art collection owned by Jacques Goudstikker, a prominent Amsterdam art dealer. Much of Goudstikker's collection was forcibly sold by the Nazis following his death during the war. While some of the stolen works were recovered in Germany after the war ended and were subsequently displayed in Amsterdam as part of the Dutch national collection, the location of this late-baroque Italian painting by Giuseppe Ghislandi depicting Contessa Colleoni had remained unknown for more than 80 years.
According to Algemeen Dagblad's investigation, wartime documents suggest the painting came into the possession of Friedrich Kadgien, who served as both an SS officer and a senior financial aide to Nazi leader Hermann Göring. Kadgien fled Germany in 1945 and eventually settled in Argentina, where he built a successful business career until his death in 1979. A U.S. government file reviewed by the Dutch newspaper contained the telling observation: "Appears to possess substantial assets, could still be of value to us."
The newspaper had made multiple attempts over the years to contact Kadgien's two daughters living in Buenos Aires, but these efforts had been unsuccessful. The breakthrough in locating the missing artwork only came when one of Kadgien's daughters decided to put the family house up for sale, inadvertently revealing the painting in the real estate photographs.
The investigation also uncovered evidence of a second looted artwork in the family's possession. Another stolen piece – a floral still-life painting by 17th-century Dutch artist Abraham Mignon – was spotted on one of the sister's social media accounts, according to Algemeen Dagblad's reporting.
When confronted about the painting following the publication of the photographs, one of Kadgien's daughters told the Dutch newspaper that she didn't understand what they wanted from her or what painting they "are talking about." This response came despite clear photographic evidence of the artwork hanging in her family's home.
Lawyers representing the Goudstikker estate have vowed to pursue every legal avenue to reclaim the stolen painting. Marei von Saher, Goudstikker's sole surviving heir and daughter-in-law, expressed her family's determination to recover all stolen artworks. "Our family aims to bring back every single artwork robbed from Jacques' collection, and to restore his legacy," von Saher stated. She has already made significant progress in this mission, taking possession of 202 recovered pieces from the collection in 2006.
This case highlights the ongoing challenges in recovering Nazi-looted art more than 80 years after World War II ended. Many stolen artworks remain missing, often hidden in private collections or passed down through families who may or may not be aware of their criminal origins. The sudden disappearance of the Ghislandi painting after its public identification demonstrates how difficult it can be for authorities and legitimate heirs to actually recover these stolen cultural treasures, even when their locations become known.
